Twelve pugilists showed up for the 2001 WBC Title Bout heavyweight tournament. While the field lacked quantity it had quality as the reigning champion and three other former champs were on hand.

The first round saw four bouts. Rocky Marciano (Chris Bauch) defeated Jim Jefferies (Mike Pranno), Sonny Liston (Stuart Tucker) KO'd Sam Langford (Dennis Menear), and Joe Frazier (Johnathon Lockwood) KO'd Mike Tyson (Chris Palermo) and in the fight of the round Jack Johnson (Derek Landell) was able to earn a majority decision over Gene Tunney winning one judge by a single point.

The quarterfinals saw the action pick up as the four champs advanced from their bye slots. First Johnson defeated Joe Jeanette who was managed by defending champion Bruno Passacatando. Next Peter Jackson (Terry Coleman) was able to beat Marciano by TKO at 2:59 in the 8th round. One more second and the fight goes to the judges, where the fight was considered a tossup. The third fight of the quarters saw Jack Dempsey (Jim Bell) pound Frazier all over the ring. At the end of the third round the referee stepped in and stopped the carnage as Dempsey went on. The last fight saw Bob Fitzsimmons (Dennis Nicholson) go up against Liston. Liston came out looking to make short work of the fight going for a quick KO. After the 3rd round. Fitzsimmons saw what Liston's strategy was and waited for his opening. Early in the 4th Liston lunged in for the kill. Fitzsimmons stepped out of the way and countered with a straight right. A 10 count later Liston was out and Fitzsimmons was moving on to the semi-finals.

The first semi-final saw Jack Dempsey and Peter Jackson go at it. With Dempsey involved you would think that a fighter would be pummeled into submission and there was, but not the one you would think. Jackson came out firing and didn't stop. Halfway through the second round the ref stepped in to prevent any more damage to Dempsey as Jackson advanced to the final.

The other semi-final was the fight of the tournament. Going in, Jack Johnson was a heavy favorite over Bob Fitzsimmons. The only thing in Fitzsimmons' favor was that the fight was in London and he had the hometown crowd behind him. Fitzsimmons won the first round, but the next five were about even. Then in the seventh Johnson pounded Fitzsimmons - getting a standing 8 count as the bell rung. Johnson looked cocky after the round was over, thinking he had the fight won. Was he surprised when in the next round Fitzsimmons knocked him down! Johnson bearly got to his feet at 9 and held on for the rest of the round. Fitzsimmons took the last round as well. The crowd was hushed as the judges added up their scores and the decision was announced. Judge #1 saw it 75-74 Johnson, the referee saw it 76-75 Fitzsimmons, and Judge #2 saw it 76-75 for the winner Jack Johnson! It was a great fight.

The final saw Jack Johnson vs. Peter Jackson go for the title. Johnson won the first round and it looked like he had come to fight. But that was the last round that he would take as Jackson dominated the rest of the fight. Finally at 2:28 of the ninth, the referee stopped it. Peter Jackson was the 2001 Title Bout champion.

Congratulations to Terry Coleman for winning his secnd Title Bout championship. All he did in winning the tournament was beat the three highest rated boxers: Marciano, Dempsey, and Johnson. I would also like to thank my two assistants, Terry Coleman and John Ellman, for their help.